ABSTRACT
Industry ......................................................................................................... 185 8.3 Literature Review ......................................................................................... 188
8.3.1 Overview of the Components in a Typical Architecture for Information and Knowledge Sharing in the Value Chain ................ 188 8.3.2 Industry-Independent Standardization Initiatives for Information and Knowledge Sharing .................................................................... 190
8.3.2.1 ebXML ............................................................................... 190 8.3.2.2 RosettaNet .......................................................................... 190
8.3.3 Standardization Initiatives for Information and Knowledge Sharing Related to the Forest Industry ............................................. 191
8.3.3.1 papiNet ............................................................................... 191 8.3.3.2 ELectronic DATa or ELDAT ............................................. 191 8.3.3.3 Standard for Forestry Data and Communication or
StanForD ............................................................................ 192 8.3.3.4 e-Forestry Industry Data Standard .................................... 192 8.3.3.5 Geographic Information Systems Data Transfer Standard ............................................................................. 193 8.3.3.6 Other Standards ................................................................. 193
8.3.4 Standardization Initiatives for Information and Knowledge Sharing Related to Other Industries ................................................. 193
Canadian academic researchers, in collaboration with FPInnovations, a national forest research institute, are proposing to build a strategic research network on value chain optimization (VCO) that aims at providing the industry and policy-makers with advanced planning and decision support systems to support the design and deployment of a more competitive forest bioeconomy. Different value propositions are to be evaluated from a global value chain perspective. The research would be organized around five themes denoted as T1 to T5 as shown in Figure 8.1. Themes T1 to T4 develop a hierarchical approach to value chain optimization. Theme T5 addresses a broader comprehensive knowledge representation. The focus of this chapter is on theme T5. It stresses the need for gaining a common representation and understanding of the different components of the value chain as this will permit evaluating forest and industry strategies, supply-chain configurations, and planning approaches using simulations. More specifically, the network aims at developing and maintaining virtual business test-benches providing data sets and rich business contexts to aid the demonstration of the potential benefits of different methods for the coordination and planning of all the resources in the forest products industry. An agent-based approach has been identified as a valuable tool to facilitate the assessment of different collaborative and noncollaborative scenarios. However, the sharing of information and knowledge in a collaborative modeling context remains a key challenge. In this chapter, we look at the literature about the most significant standardization initiatives for information and knowledge sharing and agent-based modeling platforms in the forest products value chain. A road map was developed defining the collaborative knowledge-based platform to support research projects within the VCO network.
